'Fair' weather friends cope with rain

August 24, 2005|By Michael Jones, Staff Writer

GAYLORD - A little rain, make that a whole lot of rain, wasn't enough to put a damper on last week's preparations for this year's Otsego County Fair - which incidentally, runs through Saturday (see story on p. A9).

The rain, more than 3 inches in three days, did necessitate moving Sunday's queen's pageant to an alternative site after heavy rains turned the grandstand area into a field of mud.

"Because of all the rain, the track in front of the grandstand was turned into a mud bog," fair board director Shirley Bates said Monday afternoon. "It was cold and wet on Sunday so the pageant was moved to the Gaylord Evangelical Free Church. We're grateful they were able to accommodate us."

While fair volunteers dodged and ducked the wet weather to prepare the fairgrounds for this week's fair, thunderstorms pushed precipitation amounts well above normal for the month.

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It rained Thursday. It rained on Friday. It rained on Saturday, too. Meteorologist Andy Sullivan from the National Weather Service (NWS) Gaylord office reported almost 4 inches of precipitation falling during the three-day period. The NWS reports rainfall amounts average 3.59-inches for the entire month of August. To date, 6.20 inches have fallen.

On Sunday, all things made soggy by the sometime ferocious rains began to dry out just in time for what Sullivan said should be a fairly pleasant week for those who plan on attending activities at the county fair.

"It should be fairly nice for the next few days, some pleasant late-summer weather," Sullivan said. "We should have some dry days, although there is a possibility of some rain Friday night."

Sullivan said the remainder of the month should be fairly dry with a warming trend moving in later this week. "There should be some above-average temperatures in the low to mid-80s by the weekend, although it should be cool at night," he offered.